BEWARE: CAVEMAN ROCKETRY

[Mikus]

If you're shopping ebay, you will want to avoid any listing from:

Seller's name: janhein ramakers
Seller's email: [email protected]

I won a V1 and the guy is stiffing me, claims he sent 2 kits but of course I've never received anything but the runaround from this guy.


It's my 1st time getting ripped off on ebay, any advice?

 

[Donaldsrockets]

If you paid with Paypal, dispute the charge and get your money back.

 

[matthew]

Their stuff comes from the Netherlands, or something. Are you sure they didn't send via surface post? If so, it takes weeks to travel the world.

I once bought some stuff from a guy in England and paid for air freight. After six weeks and no items, I was jumping up and down, seller was adamant he had sent the gear airmail, and was ignoring me. After I left bad feedback that he doesn't help when an issue arises, he initiated a postal inquiry. On the eighth week, my package arrived - it had been sent by surface mail and had been in transit the whole time.

 

[splintered sun]

I grabbed the following from Paypal's fraud protection faq - in case it turns out the transatlantic shipping isn't the issue and you want to file a claim. (assuming of course you paid with paypal).

How do I know if I’m purchasing an eligible item on eBay?

Look for the buyer protection message in the eBay listing in the right hand column under the "Buy Safely" banner. If you see this message, and you meet the eligibility requirements, then your purchase is covered by PayPal Buyer Protection. You can also view this message after you complete your purchase by logging in to your eBay account, going to "my eBay" and looking at the listing. If the listing does not include the buyer protection message, then it is not eligible for PayPal Buyer Protection.

The buyer protection message will vary based on the eBay website. Here are examples of the buyer protection message:

eBay.com (uncapped coverage)

eBay.ca (capped coverage) This item is covered up to C$2000 See eligibility
This item is covered up to C$200 See eligibility

 

[UMRS]

If you're shopping ebay, you will want to avoid any listing from:

Seller's name: janhein ramakers
Seller's email: [email protected]

I won a V1 and the guy is stiffing me, claims he sent 2 kits but of course I've never received anything but the runaround from this guy.


It's my 1st time getting ripped off on ebay, any advice?

It would be very helpful if we had the transaction dates and the item id#. There are several reasons your kit(s) may not be here yet.

Primarily if it was sent surface post it could take up to 6 weeks or longer to arrive. We once shipped 5 rockets to the Ukraine it took 9 weeks to arrive.

Also keep in mind the US postal service is more efficent and quicker than any other postal service. So the Dutch P.O may be a little slow.

 

[andytherocketeer]

Also keep in mind the US postal service is more efficent and quicker than any other postal service. So the Dutch P.O may be a little slow.

My experience of living in .NL for 5 years is that the Dutch postal service is actually one of the more efficient ones (better than German imho).
Only bought stuff from Jan-Hein once, but collected from his place, since he lived about 5mins walk from my old place. Seemed like an OK guy, but I think some others have political issues. This was a few years ago, so things may be different now.

 

[Mikus]

It would be very helpful if we had the transaction dates and the item id#. There are several reasons your kit(s) may not be here yet.

Primarily if it was sent surface post it could take up to 6 weeks or longer to arrive. We once shipped 5 rockets to the Ukraine it took 9 weeks to arrive.

Also keep in mind the US postal service is more efficent and quicker than any other postal service. So the Dutch P.O may be a little slow.

I'll have to go look up the transaction number but the sale date was 1/25. Maybe he sent it but it's not here yet and I had 45 days to dispute the transaction with Paypal.

I have no idea how he sent it. I can't get him to forward any documentation, not even a tracking number. I guess FexEx doesn't do Holland.

Hey Andy, the Danish postal system does have a way to track mail or otherwise verify receipt, right? Why would someone send a 2nd package overseas without using that functionality if the 1st package got "lost"?

 

[UMRS]

What I meant by ID was the ebay item number ID.

 

[bobkrech]

If you're shopping ebay, you will want to avoid any listing from:

Seller's name: janhein ramakers
Seller's email: [email protected]

I won a V1 and the guy is stiffing me, claims he sent 2 kits but of course I've never received anything but the runaround from this guy.


It's my 1st time getting ripped off on ebay, any advice?

Mikus

It isn't as easy to ship merchandise overseas as it is a letter because you may be required to have a lot of extra dumentation, permits, etc. I would think twice before I ordered from a small business overseas, especially if they don't have a demonstrated knowledge of shipping items into the US.

Both the buyer and seller should have a mutual understanding on how the item is going to be shipped, if customs duty is due, on the required paperwork that must accompany the items for export and import, etc. Without all this all involved are asking for trouble.

If it is merchandise you may have to pay a customs duty on it. If paperwork is not complete, you could be hung up in customs indefinitely.

To minimize costs, inexperienced buyers and sellers may decide that surface shipping is the way to go, but it can take months. UPS, FEDEX, and other services will do it much quicker but at a cost. It's probably more than the cost of the items, especially if you have to pay duty on the items. On the plus side, you can have these companies act as your customs agent to expedite your shipment, but again, it is expensive, but at least you'll have a tracking number and paper trail.

Bob

 

[AKPilot]

All I can say is that from experience, when we send Christmas gifts to my wife's home in England through US Postal, we have to send them at the beginning of October to give them a fair shot of getting there on time.

 

[andytherocketeer]

I guess FexEx doesn't do Holland.

Hey Andy, the Danish postal system does have a way to track mail or otherwise verify receipt, right?

Danish or Dutch?
Dutch main postal/parcel service is run (or even owned?) by TNT.

Assuming Dutch laws are similar to UK ones (not sure if there's an EU directive?) then it doesn't matter which service or courier he used, nor the level of tracking. He would be 100% responsible for that package until you receive it. He has the contract with the courier, even if he charged an agreed number of euros to cover shipping, so even if USPS lose it, then he has defaulted. It's up to him to reclaim on the insurance and resend the package (or refund in full).

The service he chose really depends on the value. If it was a small package and not very expensive then he'd choose international letter post, probably with "signed for" service (the tracking of which only says when someone signed for the package). Anything more substantial would probably go on TNT parcel service (with better tracking and insurance).

 

[Mikus]

What I meant by ID was the ebay item number ID.

I think this is it: 170296988262

He's got it listed as US Postal Media Mail.

 

[Mikus]

Mikus

It isn't as easy to ship merchandise overseas as it is a letter because you may be required to have a lot of extra dumentation, permits, etc. I would think twice before I ordered from a small business overseas, especially if they don't have a demonstrated knowledge of shipping items into the US.

Both the buyer and seller should have a mutual understanding on how the item is going to be shipped, if customs duty is due, on the required paperwork that must accompany the items for export and import, etc. Without all this all involved are asking for trouble.

If it is merchandise you may have to pay a customs duty on it. If paperwork is not complete, you could be hung up in customs indefinitely.

To minimize costs, inexperienced buyers and sellers may decide that surface shipping is the way to go, but it can take months. UPS, FEDEX, and other services will do it much quicker but at a cost. It's probably more than the cost of the items, especially if you have to pay duty on the items. On the plus side, you can have these companies act as your customs agent to expedite your shipment, but again, it is expensive, but at least you'll have a tracking number and paper trail.

Bob

I think I'm pretty much done with overseas purchases. I did buy a kit from someone in Japan twice but I got them with no problems in about 2 weeks. I didn't expect the level of difficulty of getting this from the Netherlands however.

Let's see, he still has 3 items for which I can get the detailed item info.

He sold...
a V1 for $35 on Dec17, feedback received Jan 11 = 24 days.
a V1 for $37 on Dec29, feedback received Feb 7 = 39 days.
a V2 for $25 on Jan 15, feedback received Feb 18 = 33 days.

All of which assumes, incorrectly, that the shipment was sent the next day after the auction and feedback was given immediately upon receipt. Yeahhhh, right - that happens ALL the time.


And then mine which was a 2nd chance offer from the $37 bid (I bid $36).

So the last thing he sold was:

my V1 for $36 on Jan 25, still not received as of Mar 11 = 45 days.


And he hasn't sold or even offered anything else since my purchase.

Oy, this does not bode well.....

 

[andytherocketeer]

He's got it listed as US Postal Media Mail.

Only if you look at the .com site. If you look at .nl or .co.uk ebay site it comes up as "other international postage". Looking at the size, to me that probably means plain international or "international signed for" letter post which should be about 10 working days max.

 

[Mikus]

Only if you look at the .com site. If you look at .nl or .co.uk ebay site it comes up as "other international postage". Looking at the size, to me that probably means plain international or "international signed for" letter post which should be about 10 working days max.

Thanks Andy, you're a big help here - I definitely appreciate it.

"International signed for"?

So if he did send the 1st shipment and it got "lost, mis-sent" or whatever, and if he did send a replacement, he easily could have had traceability on my end to prove I really did get the 2nd shipment? Or on the 1st shipment for that matter, assuming the $10 shipping charge I paid covered that level of postal service?

I wonder why he didn't exercise that level of service instead claiming to Paypal that "there is no tracking for small packages"?

And you're right, I meant Dutch.

 

[UMRS]

I think this is it: 170296988262

He's got it listed as US Postal Media Mail.

Well first off I would like to know how someone in Holland is sending a package US Parcel Post?



Second my guess would be that this guy lowballed on shipping and either the package is on the slow boat to china and will arrive eventually. Or it was never sent which is possible. The fact a replacement was 'issued' and not arrived would send up some radar.

But in the end, Ive seen overseas packages take months to arrive at there final destination. So its hard to really tell.

And an FYI of all the packages weve had lost over the years and thank god its not been many. 90% of them happen in Canada. Yes IMHO Canada post is terrible.

I have had this confirmed by relatives who live in London Ontario. Ive been told mailing a letter 3 houses down the street can be an adventure

 

[SwingWing]

I bought some stuff from Caveman many years ago and had no problems. I have one of their Goblin clones and some small nylon chutes. I can't remember if it was Ebay or the old ROL auctions.

 

[Fred22]

I do a fair amount of stuff on ebay in terms of old books and sometimes movies. I have received mail from within Canada,the US, EU and Australia. I have had to wait but no serious problems yet. The biggest problem i have had is customs. I ordered some ABC style large wooden blocks as a prop in my photo work. Customs held them for two weeks. The blocks were hollow and open from the bottom so why two weeks i have no idea. I find they they throw the dunce hat back and forth across the border from the US to Canada in the customs offices so they can all have a laugh I suppose
Cheers
fred

 

[Mikus]

Woo this gets better and better.

1) We are at almost 2 months after the transaction date (1/25/09) - still nothing in the mail.

2) Seller replied to the opening of the dispute as follows: 3/9/2009 09:28 PDT - Seller: The byer claimed not to have received his package a few weeks ago,I informed him that I would send a replacement, and so I did. Unfortunatly it is not possible to have a tracking number for small packages. And now he tries to rip me of for two packages and wants his money back.

3) Seller updated the dispute with guess what? A tracking number: The seller has responded to our request for tracking information. We haven't confirmed the tracking information yet but wanted to share it with you.

Tracking number: 123345676787464345324625
Shipping company: NL TNT


4) Guess where the tracking number goes? That's right... nowhere. "Sorry we are unable to fulfil your request."

5) Me = LOL'ing.

 

[andytherocketeer]

Haha! Nice try

TNT NL is expected. They own/run the main Dutch Postal Service.

The tracking code is an international standard, iirc 13 characters. NL will be something like 2SxxxxxxxxxNL, UK is something like RJxxxxxxxxxGB, Germany is xxxxxxxxxxxDE, US is XXxxxxxxxxxUS, etc. (see a pattern yet?).

You can have proof of delivery on *any* letter, parcel, whatever. You just ask for it in the postoffice and pay a bit more. Forget what it cost in NL (5yrs since I lived there), but in Germany it's €2.05 for international proof of delivery. That just tells you delivered or not delivered. Sender can then pay another €2 to get scanned signature in case of dispute.

If buying from NL, I'd seriously recommend Rebelspace.

 

[Sac]

I'm amazed they dont get confused with NL when we changed our postal to NL a few years ago. (Newfoundland and Labrador ie NL) It use to be NF I dont know why they changed it. They did put .nl.ca though for the government website probibly due to conflicting with nethrlands.

 

[Mikus]

Gotta love Paypal.

'We have concluded our investigation into your case and have decided in your favor."